The Royal Caribbean cruise line ended the Explorer of the Seas 10-day trip on Sunday in the Caribbean after hundreds of passengers and crew members were sickened with a gastrointestinal illness. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention boarded the ship during its U.S Virgin Islands port to investigate the illness and evaluate the outbreak response. 577 of the 3,050 passengers reported getting sick during the cruise that left Cape Liberty, New Jersey on Tuesday. 49 crew members also reported feeling ill. Tests will confirm what caused the outbreak. Royal Caribbean said that special cleaning products and disinfectants proven to kill norovirus were being used to clean the ship before it returned to the U.S. and a full sanitation program will be carried out once the ship reaches its home port on Wednesday.
